By Sean Yoo

The DECA team traveled to Orlando, Florida to compete in the DECA International Career Development Conference (ICDC). The competition lasted six days and was a huge success with several students being recognized on stage and receiving multiple medals.

Out of over 23,000 competitors, the Granada Hills Charter (GHC) team performed very well. Junior Christopher Bonilla placed in the top 20 in the world in the personal financial literacy competition. Senior Aziz Essio, placed in the top ten in the virtual business challenge: retail competition.

“The DECA conference team had a great year,” business teacher and DECA advisor Troy Aiken said. “We had several students get recognized on stage at district, state, and international Competition. These students also received medals for their achievements. We hope to keep growing the success of the program in the future years.”

In each DECA competition, students are given pins that they trade with other students in order to build a network. Through this part of the competition, they meet new friends and network with companies who come to set up booths at the competition.

The competition itself is split up into two parts: the exam and role play. The exam is a prepared event where students rely on studying past exams and materials provided by DECA. After the exam, students role play as financial advisers, ultimately presenting their topic. DECA students are given only ten minutes to prepare that presentation.

To qualify for the international competition, the GHC DECA team placed in the top five in the state competition. During that competition, several students received recognition of their individual abilities and achievements. Students also qualified with top marks in several events including personal financial literacy and community awareness.

“This was an amazing opportunity and experience for me,” Bonilla said. “It was really fun to see the city of Orlando and very interesting to meet people from all around the world. I was able to connect with people from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Canada, and so much more.

In the upcoming years, the DECA team hopes to expand their success. They hope to repeat their success in next year’s international competition at Atlanta, Georgia.

DECA’s goal is to prepare students to be leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and management.